Thunderbirds Series 1, Episode 12: Gauntlet
by SatNavDan
Summary: Thunderbirds in an alternate universe with different characters. When International Rescue attend a collapsed mine incident, The Hood creates a cave-in trapping Wizzy and Laura along with some of the miners. Whilst they struggle to survive, Lady Penelope must get Rosie from her lecture in England to the site in France and run the gauntlet of The Hood's forces trying to stop them!
1. Pre-Titles

IT was early morning over the South Pacific. Tracy Island's black shape slowly began to lighten as the sun rose from beyond the horizon welcoming in yet another crisp, warm day.

Inside the Tracy Mansion, everyone was still asleep - but for some of them it didn't stay that way. The hologram projectors in Daniel and Joanne's room along with those in the five Tracy sisters and Leanna's room bleeped loudly waking them up. It was Kerry calling from Thunderbird 5. "Rise and shine everyone, we've got a situation!" she said. "Thunderbirds 1 and 2 required - destination is the South of France."

"F-A-B!" Daniel answered fighting off a big yawn as he got out of the bed. He didn't bother changing into his normal clothes as that would only waste time. He gave Joanne a kiss before he left the room. Joanne moaned in slight annoyance and rolled over to go back to sleep again. As Daniel walked along the corridor towards the staircase, the girls all came out in their nightclothes as well - they looked just as sleepy as he did.

"Morning, Dad," the five sisters said.

"Morning, Daniel," yawned Leanna.

"Morning, all," Daniel finished as they hurried down the staircase to the lounge where they found Jodie was already up and waiting for them. "What's the situation, Jodie?" Daniel asked. "Have you spoken to Kerry?"

"Yes, Mr Tracy. Mine collapse in the South of France," said Jodie. "Approximately fifty miles to the North of Monte Carlo. Suspected explosion underground and there's at least four people trapped inside. You'll need the Interchangeable Pods again for bulldozing and you may need a Mole as well."

Daniel and the girls quickly drank their strawberry-flavoured energy milk created by Zoë. "Cheers, Jodie, we're on our way," he said.

The team split up with Laura hurrying over to the revolving wall panel that led to the revolving elevator that would take her down to Thunderbird 1. After having turned through the wall and standing on the elevator, robotic arms attached her uniform to her as it went down. At the same time, Katie, Beth, Adrienne, Leanna and Wizzy hurried out of the lounge to make their way down to Thunderbird 2 whilst Daniel hurried over to the large rocket painting on the wall. He leant back against it and it began to tilt backwards sending him sliding down into a harness which took him down a long green tunnel. Robotic arms worked to attach his blue uniform with green utility sash as he went down. Once all that was complete, the rail his harness was on moved from the bottom side of the tunnel to the top side. Laura was now in her uniform and being carried out on a retractable walkway to Thunderbird 1. She sat down in the seat which was then moved inside before the hatchway sealed. The trolley that Thunderbird 1 stood on began to move taking Thunderbird 1 up the diagonal tunnel towards its launching bay under the swimming pool. Daniel then reached Thunderbird 2's silo and swung down through the hatch in the top before closing the hatch behind him. He hurried to his seat and sat down before selecting Pod 2 on the computer. The pod conveyor activated moving Pod 1 underneath. Once Pod 2 was in position, the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered down onto it. Whilst all this had been going on, Katie, Wizzy, Leanna, Adrienne, and Beth had travelled down express elevators from the mansion to the silo and like Daniel had been changed into their uniforms on the way. They were now able to join Daniel in the cockpit and were ready to go. The rocks concealing the entrance to the hanger were lowered to allow Thunderbird 2 to taxi out onto the runway. As it came out, the palm trees were tilted back to allow it to pass. Up by the house, the swimming pool was opening up ready for Thunderbird 1 which was just coming into position on the launch pad. Thunderbird 2 was now on the launching ramp which lifted up into position. The wings folded into position and the blast shield rose into place behind the rocket engines. The two ships were ready to launch.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 1 fired and it lifted up off the launch ramp, though the gap where the swimming pool had been before climbing high into the night sky above Tracy Island. Thunderbird 2's own engines fired and it lifted up off the ramp to join its sister-ship.

"Thunderbirds are go!" said Daniel as the two ships headed North-West towards the South of France.

It took International Rescue roughly thirty to forty minutes to cross the world to where the mine was located. They had been told on the way by Kerry that it was owned by the same company as the one on Mars, although they felt sure that a Rock Snake was not the cause of this incident.

"Thunderbird 2, I have a visual on the mine," Laura said. "I'm going in."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 1," answered Daniel. "We'll be with you in ten minutes."

"Make it five," said Laura. "This looks a lot worse than we thought. The whole entrance is blocked by a landslide."

As Thunderbird 1 moved in over the mine, Laura was oblivious to the fact that she was being watched from a distance. A dark-skinned man was hiding in a tree next to an old farmyard. As the sleek, silver rocket fired its vertical jets and began to land, he lowered his binoculars and turned on a small walkie-talkie. "Boss...Thunderbird 1 is just arriving," he said. "Thunderbird 2 shouldn't be far away."

An evil chuckle answered over the walkie-talkie. "Excellent!" the voice of The Hood said with delight. "Nothing will stop us now!"


	2. Act I

THUNDERBIRD 2 arrived on the scene and landed in front of Thunderbird 1. Laura had already found the foreman, David Borza who had told her about the missing people inside.

"This the man?" Daniel asked after leaving Thunderbird 2 to join them.

"Yes, sir," said Laura. They didn't like to reveal that they were family if they could help it. "Four people are still inside. No contact though."

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"An explosion," David explained. "I think one of our own charges went off accidentally and caused the cave-in."

"Didn't think your charges could be set off accidentally?" Daniel remarked.

"Not by themselves, no," David said. "But someone may have pressed the detonate button by mistake."

"Well, we can find that out later," said Daniel. "Right now, let's get them out of there."

The main body of Thunderbird 2 then lifted up off Pod 2 and the door opened. Beth and Leanna came out in Bulldozer pods and headed for the rockfall. Katie then lifted off in Thunderbird 2 ready to help from the air leaving the pod on the ground. Adrienne and Wizzy came out on foot so that they could guide the two bulldozers in. David instructed the rest of his crew to keep back and let International Rescue get on with their job.

The bulldozers were able to clear the majority of the rubble with ease but there was one massive rock that not even they could move together.

"That one could easily crush us both," Beth observed.

"Thunderbird 2 - you're up," said Leanna.

"Coming in now," said Katie. "Everyone keep clear!" She hovered Thunderbird 2 over the rock and fired the grappling cables down onto it. She then turned the thrusters to full power and began to lift it up into the air. It was very heavy and it swung around uncontrollably causing everyone to flinch nervously. But she wa able to get it high enough and move it away from the mine before carefully putting it down into a nearby empty field.

"Good job, Thunderbird 2," said Daniel into his helmet communicator.

"Thank you, Dad," Katie replied. She knew that only Daniel could hear her so there was no harm in saying his title."

With the entrance to the mine now cleared, everyone looked inside. Nobody came out which meant that the trapped miners weren't waiting behind the blockage.

"Thunderbird 5 - can you pinpoint exactly where the miners are?" Daniel asked.

Kerry checked the hologram scan she'd made of the mine complex. "They're about one-hundred feet into the main tunnel and then another fifty-seven feet down," she said. "But I can see that there's another rockfall that's blocked the main tunnel."

Jodie was almost monitoring the events from Tracy Island. "There's no way you can get the bulldozers down there," she said. "They're too big and we don't know how unstable the mine is."

"Looks like we need some heavy-lifting," said Daniel. "Thunderbird 2, I'm going to need my arms."

"F-A-B," said Katie. She brought Thunderbird 2 back over and dropped the Jaws of Life down which remotely attached themselves to Daniel. He then headed into the mine turning on the LED spotlight on his left shoulder as he did so. Laura, Wizzy and Adrienne followed him inside along with David and two other miners, Adrian and Aida.

As they headed down the tunnel, Daniel decide to try and learn a little more about the people they were going to help locate. "What are their names?" Daniel asked David.

"Two guys and two girls," David answered. "Faye, Diana, Victor and Richard,"

Adrienne frowned. "Faye and Richard?" she asked.

"Do those names mean anything to you?" asked Wizzy.

"Possibly," Adrienne said. "Two of the miners on Mars had those names. I seem to recall there was a guy called Richard down in the mine."

"That would be a different one," Adrian said. "That Richard works at out mine in Norway."

"What about Faye?" asked Adrienne.

"She was on Mars, yes, it is the same one," said David. "Don't bring the subject of Mars up to her though, she gets snappy."

"I'm surprised," Adrienne remarked. "She wasn't one of the ones trapped underground."

"I'm guessing what happened out there affected them all," Daniel said. "After all, the Rock Snakes can give even the toughest of people nightmares for years to come."

"Rock snakes?" asked Aida, looking worried. "You dealt with those before?"

The Tracy's came to a stop and stood in silence for a moment, wondering what to say.

"Yes," said Daniel, without turning round to look at them. "On the Moon - but we don't like to talk about it either." He carried on down the tunnel with the others following in silence. The less that was said about the rock snakes, the better they thought.

They soon reached the blockage in the tunnel. It was a pile of small rocks that the girls could easily shift whilst Daniel used the Jaws of Life to move some of the slightly larger ones.

Laura looked up at the roof of the tunnel. It was badly cracked. "I don't like the look of that," she said to Daniel. "It could all come down at any moment."

"Let's hope it doesn't," said Daniel. "Everyone watch where you're putting your feet and try not to trip over anything."

They headed deeper into the tunnel and soon came to a T-junction.

"Okay…" said David. "They were working on opposite sides."

"Two each?" asked Wizzy.

"Yes," said David. "Might I suggest we split up and search?"

"One second," said Daniel. "Thunderbird 5, we've reached a T-junction. The foreman says the trapped miners were working in opposite directions. Are there any other rockfalls that would require some heavy-lifting?"

"Not that I can see, no," Kerry replied. "But take it easy. I'm detecting severe cracks in the mine's structure. One slight tremor could cause the whole place to cave-in around you."

"Great…" said Adrienne sarcastically.

"Right, we shall split here," said Daniel. "Laura, Wizzy and Adrian, you go to the right. The rest of us will go to the left."

They started to head off when Aida suddenly kissed Adrian. "Be careful," she whispered.

Laura, Wizzy and Adrienne didn't see any of this, but Daniel and David did.

"Are they together?" Daniel asked.

"Yes…" David answered, sounding slightly annoyed which gave Daniel an amused smirk.

The tunnel didn't last long though and they felt they were now in a large open space, only it was pitch black and they couldn't see anything except for the small bit illuminated by Daniel's LED light.

"Can't see a thing," said David. "The cave-in cut all the power. We can't go any further without proper lights."

Daniel and Adrienne looked at each other. They both knew what was coming next. They took out two light sticks from their toolbelts and lit them. "Thunderbirds are glow!" they said together as Daniel gave one to David and Adrienne gave one to Aida - both were very confused by the two Thunderbirds' remark.

"Don't ask," Daniel said as he led the way. The light sticks didn't illuminate the whole of where they were as the cavern they were now in was colossal, but it was definitely a much bigger improvement than the pitch-black.

Laura and Wizzy had had the same idea with the light sticks whilst Adrian had his torch.

"It sure is a mess down here," said Wizzy.

"Yes, it is," agreed Laura. "I hope those guys are close."

"Seventy yards and you should find them according to my scans," Kerry said over the radios in their helmets.

And she was right, soon they began to hear groaning sounds from up ahead. They hurried as fast as they could until they found a young Portuguese woman with her leg stuck under a heavy mechanical shovel and a black-haired man with a beard unconscious nearby.

Adrian ran over to the man. "Victor?" he said shaking his shoulders. "Victor, my friend. Can you hear me?"

The Tracy sisters went to help the woman. She was still conscious but scared. "Help me!" she cried.

"Hey, relax, we're going to get you out of here," said Wizzy taking the woman's hands. "Are you Faye or are you Diana?"

"Diana," the woman answered.

Laura examined the mechanical shovel. "This looks heavy," she said. "We may need the Jaws of Life."

"Typical they went the other way," sighed Wizzy. "We'll just have to try together."

"Please," begged Diana. "Just...get it off of me!"

So Wizzy and Laura took deep breaths and began to lift the mechanical shovel up. It was very heavy indeed but they were just able to lift it.

"Can...you...get...out?" Wizzy asked between strains.

Diana was weak, but she managed to crawl herself backwards until her legs were out from under the mechanical shovel. "There, I'm out," she said.

Laura and Wizzy let go of the shovel and let it drop back to the ground. It landed heavily and the ground shook slightly. Everyone froze, but nothing happened.

"What was that?" Daniel asked over the radio.

"Sorry, that was us," said Laura. "We had to lift a mechanical shovel off Diana's legs.

"Damn it, Laura, why didn't you just tell me?" Daniel said crossly. "I'd have come and moved it!"

"Sorry," said Laura. "But…"

"Save it," said Daniel sharply. "We've found the other two. Let's just get out, shall we?"

Adrienne helped Faye to her feet. "Hello again," she said.

Faye looked at her. "Hi…" she said. "Do I know you?"

"We met once before," said Adrienne. "Just not on this world."

Daniel frowned at Adrienne who quickly went quiet.

"Ohhhhh!" Faye realised. "You're one of the ones who came out to Mars?"

"Yes, I am," said Adrienne. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Oh, it's okay," said Faye. "I wasn't trapped that time."

Daniel David were helping Richard who'd badly sprained his ankle.

"Some shit job this turned out to be," Richard remarked. "I was told this company had the best safety-record."

"Richard, not now," said David. "Let's get outside first."

But as they headed for the tunnel, Kerry interrupted with some worrying news. "Er, guys, my scans are picking up two signals. One coming from each of your locations. It appears to be coming from directly above you."

Everyone looked up and noticed a small red light flashing on the ceiling.

"What the hell?" asked David.

Daniel shone his LED light up at the ceiling. Now they could see it - a square black device with a gold diamond shape on the front. The red light was accompanied by a beeping sound which began to intensify. Daniel's heart skipped a beat - he knew what it was, "GET OUT! NOW!" he roared.

Everyone sprinted for the tunnels. They made it in just in time.

Outside, Beth, Katie and Leanna were waiting by the bulldozers when the ground was rocked by a thunderous explosion which blew a hole right out the top of the mine. Moments later, a second device exploded in the cavern where Laura, Wizzy, Adrian, Victor and Diana were.

"Oh, my God!" gasped Beth.

Kerry had also seen the explosions on the map. "Guys, get out of there!" she shouted.

Aida and Adrienne led the way with Faye whilst Daniel and David followed close behind with the injured Richard. None of them had ever run so fast in their lives. The whole tunnel around them was shaking and breaking up. Large chunks began to fall down behind them.

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT!" screamed Faye in terror.

"YES, WE ARE!" thundered Adrienne as she used her strength to practically pull both Faye and Aida through the main tunnel and out into the open. Once they were safely by the bulldozers, they turned round in time to see Daniel and David came sprinting out with Richard. They literally threw themselves outside just as the tunnel collapsed completely. Another landslide started on the outside which created a huge dust cloud with enveloped everyone.

When the dust settled, Daniel picked himself up off the ground to see everyone on his team were shaken but safe. "Phew, we made it," he said. But then Beth grabbed his arms. He looked down at her, her eyes were wide with fear.

"Dad…" Beth said, her voice trembling. "Where are the others?"

"Right behind us," said Daniel.

"Er…no, they're not," said Beth after a slight pause.

Daniel looked around. The landslide had completely buried the mine entrance once more. Laura, Wizzy and the remaining three miners were not with them. Daniel wasted no time in getting onto the radio. "Laura? Wizzy? Can you hear me?" he asked. "Girls, do you read me?" But there was no reply. Everyone was silent and still as Daniel used the holographic display in his helmet to scan the mine. But there was no life signs at all. The others weren't there. "No…no, no, no, no!" Daniel exclaimed. He began to shake violently. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed so loudly that it echoed off the cliff walls causing everyone to cover their ears.

The echo even travelled over the top of the cliffs and to a nearby farmhouse where Mullion and a number of The Hood's henchmen were hiding out. Daniel's scream shattered all the windows in the house. They too all fell to the ground holding their ears.

"What the hell was that?" Mullion asked.

The Hood picked himself up and dusted down his suit. "It would seem that our scheme is working just as I predicted it would," he said. "Oh, I'd love to see the look of despair on Tracy's face right now. He then laughed loudly.

Daniel fell to the ground. His eldest and youngest daughters were gone, and so were the three miners as well. Nobody knew what to do. Nobody knew what to say.

Katie was the one who broke the silence. "This...can't be happening," she said.

Aida screamed and charged towards Daniel who hadn't moved at all. Beth quickly stood between him and Aida so she threw a punch at her instead. Luckily, Beth's reflexes enabled her to catch it.

"Don't...you...touch him!" Beth growled.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO SAVE LIVES!" Aida screamed as she tried to hit Beth with her other hand but got caught as well. "NOW MY BOYFRIEND IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Before Beth could say anything, Kerry's voice suddenly spoke out over the mine's tannoy system. "Enough, people!"

Everyone was surprised. Clearly someone had found a way to hack into their system.

"For those who don't know, this is Thunderbird 5 speaking," Kerry went on. "I've done another scan of the mine and I've found five life-signatures. They are still alive, but they aren't moving. There is still time if you hurry."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Leanna as she climbed back into her bulldozer pod.

"Hold it, Leanna," said Jodie who was also somehow talking over the speakers. "There's no point trying to clear the mine entrance. The tunnels are completely caved in. You're going to have to make your own tunnel to get in."

"Got it!" said Katie. She hurried back to Thunderbird 2. "One Mole-pod on its way."

Daniel then got up again. He was seething with fury. "Oh, you are going to pay for this, Belargant!" he growled.

Beth and Adrienne looked at him in surprise. Jodie, Joanne and Kerry were startled as well. None of them were quite sure whether they'd heard him correctly or not.

"Come again?" asked Adrienne.

"Did you say what I think you just said?" added Beth,

Daniel turned round to face them. His face was almost as red as Thunderbird 1's nosecone. They had never seen him look so angry. "I recognised that device on the ceiling," he said with fury in his voice. "It was exactly the same as though earthquake generators that The Hood used. _He's_ behind this!"

Everyone was silent again. The others were completely shocked by this revelation. But then the anger started to build up inside them as well.

"The Hood!" said Beth with fury. "Why that fu-OW!"

Adrienne elbowed her sister to be quiet.

"Jodie," Daniel went on doing his best to remain calm despite his body still shaking. "I will need you to to plot a safe route underground for us to use the Mole-pod to get to them."

"Already on it, Mr Tracy," said Jodie.

"Kerry, I need a massive favor from you," Daniel went on.

"Of course, Daniel," said Kerry. "What do you need?"

Daniel paused for a moment whilst he attempted to calm himself down even more. "I need you to call Lady Penelope," he said. "She's in London watching Rosie's lectures. Tell her she needs to bring Rosie here - by _any_ means necessary!"

Kerry nodded determinedly. "You got it!" she said and signed off.

Daniel looked back at the rocks blocking the mine. "Hold on, girls, we will get you out of there," he said to himself.


	3. Act II

Laura stirred. Her eyes opened slowly. Everything was black, or so it seemed at first. She was also lying down on her back. "Ow…" she said. She tried to move, only to find that she couldn't. She couldn't feel her right arm at all and by looking over, she saw it was twisted in a very awkward angle. She tried to move it, but it was limp and very painful. Clearly it was broken. She tried to sit up but again she couldn't. She cried out in pain but nobody seemed to hear her. She then realised that she couldn't feel either of her legs. They too were at strange angles. "Oh...God…" Laura gasped. "What's happening?" She glanced over to the right and saw Adrian, Victor and Wizzy all slumped out unconscious. The two guys were on top of each other with Adrian having shielded Victor, but Wizzy was partially buried under some rocks. Her left arm couldn't be seen at all and her helmet visor was cracked. "Wizzy?" Laura said weakly. "Wizzy...are you okay?"

Wizzy didn't reply, but another voice did. "Help...me…"

Laura looked over to her left to see Diana clinging desperately to the rocks. Her face was bruised and slightly blooded but apart from that she seemed fine. Laura gasped. Diana was hanging over the edge of a newly created ravine due to the shifting of the rocks. Then the ground shook slightly and more cracks appeared. Diana's eyes went wide with fright. "NO!" Laura shouted. She ignored her own pain and somehow managed to throw her left arm out. As the rocks fell away, Diana started to fall but Laura grabbed her arm. "I got you!" she said.

Diana was panting heavily. "Help me!" she cried. "I'm going to fall!"

"No...you're not," Laura said trying her best to sound determined. "I...won't...let you!"

Diana peered down into the black emptiness below her. She used her left hand to grab and rock and hold onto it tightly. She was not safe, but slightly safer than she had been moments before.

Laura looked back over at Wizzy. The light sticks were still glowing for now. All she could do now was wait and hope that the others would find a way to save them.

It was very rare for International Rescue to go on a mission without Dr Rosie Hall, but she was currently giving lectures on a new development that she'd been working on to students at Oxford University in England. If her experiments proved to be successful then she may have found a permanent cure to a disease that the world so greatly feared - cancer!

Lady Penelope was there too as Rosie was staying with her during her week-long stay. "I must say, Parker, Rosie definitely can make any subject interesting," said Penelope.

"H'indeed, m'lady," agreed Parker. "I've never been one to h'understand these kinds of things meself, but Dr Hall 'as made me see it in h'a new light!"

At that moment, Penelope's power compact started beeping so she made a hasty exit from the lecture theatre with Parker keeping some annoyed security guards and teachers at bay. Penelope felt a little annoyed herself but knew it had to be important. However, she was surprised to find that it was Kerry who was calling rather than Daniel.

"Lady Penelope, sorry for the intrusion but we have a desperate situation," Kerry said.

"Of course, Kerry," said Penelope. "I'm sure Rosie will be safe without us for a while. What can I do to help?"

"Actually, Penelope, it's Rosie we need," said Kerry.

Penelope frowned. She had noticed a rather nervous tone in Kerry's voice. "Kerry, are you okay?" she asked anxiously. "Is something wrong?"

"Damn right there is," said Kerry. "The others were at a mine collapse in southern France when two explosions caused a massive cave-in. Daniel and Adie made it out with some of the miners but Laura and Wizzy didn't make it out in time with the rest. They're still trapped in their and aren't responding to any calls. They could be hurt, really badly. Daniel and the others are going to try and reach them, but they're going to need some expert medical treatment we reckon."

Penelope was shocked. "Oh, my, this is very distressing news," she said. "Of course, Kerry, I will get her to the danger zone immediately!"

"Thanks, Penelope," said Kerry. "Oh, and be careful. Daniel identified the explosive device used as one belonging to The Hood. We don't know what he may be up to or why but this is without a doubt a trap. I've already got Karolina en-route in Thunderbird 7."

"Understood," said Penelope. "Over and out."

Luckily, she didn't need to interrupt the lecture for it had just finished. Rosie was just packing up her files when Professor Harold Minford came over. "Dr Hall, I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to do these lectures," he said. "Our students are bound to get top marks with the knowledge you have now given them."

Rosie blushed. "Thank you, Professor Minford. Now where can I get some lunch?"

"Please, this way," said Professor Minford.

But before they could leave the stage, they were met by the most unusual scene. Parker was trying to keep back the two security guards whilst Penelope was calmly walking towards them.

"Lady Penelope? What is going on?" asked Professor Minford.

"Sorry, Professor, but I'm afraid Dr Hall is needed," Penelope said.

"It's going to have to wait," Professor Minford began. "There's another lecture in…"

"Two of her patients are dying!" Penelope snapped which made the room go silent. "I think that's a hell of a lot more important than your lectures!"

Rosie's eyes widened slightly. She knew that Penelope way kind of lying, but she was quick to realise what she was talking about. "Take me to them!" she demanded before anyone else could object.

Parker led the way back to FAB1. As they approached the pink Rolls-Royce, none of them noticed a figure in the shadows watching them. "Damn it!" the figure said, annoyed. "I should've guessed Dr Hall would have protection."

Parker opened the doors to allow Penelope and Rosie to get inside the car before getting into the driver's seat. They hadn't said a word since leaving the lecture theatre and it wasn't until they were safely out of Oxford itself before anything was said.

"This had better be important, Lady Penelope," said Rosie. "What's happened?"

"Kerry called," said Penelope. "There's been an accident in a mine in the south of France. The others are already on the scene, but there have been further complications. Two explosions have trapped Laura and Wizzy inside along with some of the miners. They aren't responding to calls. Kerry and Daniel are fearing the worst I feel."

Rosie was horrified. "Get me there as quick as you can!" she said.

"Parker, step on it," ordered Penelope.

"Right away, m'lady," said Parker and he put his foot down on the accelerator. FAB1 raced off down the road heading for the south coast of England.

Jodie and Kerry used their skills with the holo-maps to find a safe route for the Mole-pod to burrow into the mine without causing any further damage to the inside. Katie had already prepped one of the two remaining pods into a Mole and was bringing out of Pod 2. Daniel had taken off the Jaws of Life as he wouldn't have fitted into the passenger seat and then joined Katie ready to begin.

"Okay, Jodie, we're ready," said Katie. "Let's have the route."

"Sending route now," Jodie replied.

Katie watched as the map and the route appeared on her screen.

"Be careful down there," Beth said.

"We will," said Daniel. "And be ready."

"Ready?" asked Leanna.

"I have a strange feeling The Hood might be close by," said Daniel. "If he or any of his goons so much as peek over the tops of these cliffs, give them a smack from me."

Beth, Adrienne and Leanna all nodded with agreement and then stood back as the Mole's drill nose started to power up.

"I've got the route," said Katie.

"Then let's do it," said Daniel.

The Mole tilted forwards and the drill began to speed up. The side rollers also started into motion. Then the rear rocket booster fired and pushed the vehicle forwards burrowing into the soil and rocks. It sent up a huge dust cloud and then disappeared from view.

David came over to where the three Thunderbird girls were standing. "Do you think they can make it?" he asked.

"Let's hope so," said Beth. "This is going to take a while. Even when they find them, it'll take at least six return trips before everyone is safe."

Leanna sighed. "If only we'd brought the big Mole," she said sadly. "That would've held everyone."

Adrienne put her hand on her shoulder. "We couldn't have predicted this, Leanna," she said. "No sense in wondering 'what if' etcetera."

Beth's watch beeped. "Go ahead," she said.

"Beth, it's Penelope. We're on our way."

"Lady Penelope!" exclaimed Beth. "You're coming here!"

"Kerry told me what happened," said Penelope. "We're bringing Rosie to you."

This was a little comfort for the girls knowing that when the others came out they could get the medical attention they needed.

"Dad, did you get that?" Beth asked changing frequencies. "Lady Penelope and Rosie are on their way."

"Excellent," said Daniel. "Tell them to make it fast."

Laura and Diana were growing tired and weak. Laura still had a grip on Diana but she could feel it slipping. Then they heard the sound of something moving through the walls.

"What is that?" asked Diana feeling scared.

Laura recognised the sound. "It's help," she said. "Stay with me, please, Diana. They're almost here."

But Diana lost her grip on the rock. She was giving up. "Let me drop," she said. "It's too late for me."

"Don't you dare talk like that!" Laura snapped. "We didn't come all this way just to fail. "We are going to get out of this!"

Diana wanted to feel comfort from this, but she struggled to find it.

Wizzy let out a moan. "Huh? What happened?" she asked. "Laura?"

"Wizzy!" gasped Laura. "Are you okay?"

"Er...I think so," Wizzy replied. "Wait...what's wrong with your legs?"

"I...wish I knew," said Laura. "I can't feel them at all. Nor can I feel my right arm."

Wizzy tried to move but she couldn't because of the rocks pinning her down. "And I can't feel my left arm," she said. "They must all be broken, or worse."

"Worse?" retorted Laura. "How can they be worse?"

Before Wizzy could reply, the drilling sound began to get louder. The ground shook a little and then cracks started appearing in the wall further down. Laura and Wizzy both grinned with joy as the Mole-pod broke through into the cavern.

"They're here!" cried Wizzy excitedly.

"You see, Diana," said Laura. "I told you we'd…HUH?!" It was now that Laura realised something. She could no longer feel Diana's wrist in her grip. Horrified, Laura glanced over and saw that Diana's hand was gone. "No! NO!" Laura screamed in disbelief.

Katie and Daniel jumped out of the Mole-pod just in time to hear Laura's scream and they sprinted over.

"Laura?!" Katie said. "It's okay, it's us!"

"Oh, God!" Laura gasped. "Dad, Katie, quick! You have to find her!"

"Find who?" asked Daniel.

"Diana!" Laura cried unable to take her eyes off the edge of the ravine. "She's gone!"

Daniel and Katie looked over the edge. But they couldn't see anything. "Thunderbird 5, one of the miners has fallen into this ravine," said Daniel. "Please tell me you got something?"

It was a moment before Kerry replied. "Sorry, guys, but I'm not detecting anything," she said.

Laura screwed up her face. "NOOOO!" she wailed bursting into tears and covering her eyes with her left hand. "What have I done?!"

Daniel and Katie looked at each other. Then they looked at Laura's right arm and legs. Daniel did a quick x-ray scan with his visor. "Oh, christ!" he said. "Her arm is broken in two places and both her legs have fractures. We need to get her out of here."

"But how?" asked Katie. "She needs to be kept still and flat. We'd need a stretcher."

"Which…we can't get in the Mole-pod," Daniel sighed. He turned away and swore under his breath. He then went over to Wizzy. "Hey," he said touching her right arm. "Keep still, we'll get you out. Katie?"

Katie came over and together they lifted the biggest rock up so that Wizzy could crawl out. She winced in pain as she did so and then they noticed the state her left arm was in.

"So...we got two wounded," said Katie.

"Thank God Rosie's on her way with Penelope," said Daniel. He then looked over at the still unconscious Victor and Adrian. "We ought to get them out first," said Daniel. "We can easily move them. Once Rosie's arrived then we'll work out to get Laura out."

"Forget me," Laura pleaded. "You have to find Diana."

Daniel looked over the edge of the ravine again. "I will go down and look for her, Laura, I promise," he said. "Wizzy, I know you're hurt as well but can you stay with Laura for a bit?"

Wizzy nodded. "Yes, of course," she said bravely.

Daniel and Katie worked quickly to get Adrian and Victor into the passenger seat of the Mole-pod. It was a tight squeeze but they managed it.

"I'll be back soon," Katie said as she climbed into the driver's seat.

"Don't keep us waiting," said Daniel. He glanced up at the ceiling. "Each time you drill it'll make the place more unstable."

Katie nodded and closed the cockpit roof. Daniel stepped back as the Mole-pod's motors went into reverse and it quickly disappeared back into the tunnel it had made. He then headed back over to Wizzy and Laura.

"Dad…," said Laura weakly. "Is there any chance she could still be alive?"

Daniel looked over the edge. "I don't know, Laura," he replied. "Let us find out." He took out another of his light-sticks and turned it on before holding it out over the ravine and dropping it down. To his relief, it wasn't as deep as he thought. "About fifty metres," he said. "Switching to infrared." With this new vision, he could easily see where Diana had landed. "There she is," he said. "Laura, I need to borrow one of your grapple packs."

"Sure," said Laura. "Take as many you need."

So Daniel took a couple and carefully lowered himself down to where Diana was lying unconscious. He felt a little nervous that he might be too late as he landed beside her. "Come on, darling, please be alive," he said. He checked her pulse and scanned her body for any internal injuries. To his amazement, there was nothing but some bad bruising on her body.

"Have you found her?" asked Kerry over the radio in his helmet.

"Yes, I have," said Daniel. "She appears to be okay. I'm not detecting any injuries at all. Incredible considering she's fallen fifty feet."

"How did she fall?" asked Jodie who was also listening.

"Good question," said Daniel. "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing Laura may have been trying to hold on to her." He carefully picked Diana and and using the grapple, he began to climb back up carrying her over his right shoulder.

Laura and Wizzy were very relieved to see their father return with Diana.

"Oh, thank heavens!" gasped Laura. "I thought I'd killed her!"

"Excuse me?" Daniel asked, puzzled.

Tears appeared in Laura's eyes again. "I must've let go without realising," she said. "She was dangling over the edge and I managed to grab her wrist. But I got distracted when I heard the Mole coming. Next thing I knew she was gone."

"Shhh," Daniel said comfortingly patting his eldest daughter's shoulders. "You did all you could seeing the condition you are in. Don't blame yourself, Laura."

Laura looked into her father's eyes, but she couldn't feel any comfort for some reason. The guilt had taken a hold more than she realised.

FAB1 was now heading along the motorway heading towards Dover. They were making good progress, but Rosie was feeling a little frustrated. "I thought FAB1 could fly?" she asked.

"She can, but we prefer not to use it when there are other members of the public around," replied Penelope.

"Who cares?" said Rosie crossly. "People are in danger, Lady Penelope. They need me!"

Before Penelope could reply, FAB1 speed up taking both women by surprise.

"Parker?!" exclaimed Penelope. "What are you doing?"

"We 'ave company, m'lady," Parker replied. "'e came h'in via the slip-road."

Rosie started to turn her head.

"Don't look!" Penelope said sharply and pressed a button on the back of Parker's driving seat. A flap opened up to reveal a TV screen. It linked to FAB1's rear camera showing them a black Audi R8 about thirty metres behind them. It was clearly going faster than the speed limit and was closing in on them. Then three more identical cars appeared from behind. One came up on each side of FAB1 whilst the other was trying to get in front.

"Who the hell are these people?" asked Rosie.

"They're trying to box us in," Penelope realised. "Parker, lose them!"

Parker put FAB1 into top gear and charged forwards clipping the back of the car and causing it to spin wildly out of control. The driver of the car that had been on the left of FAB1 slammed on the brakes but wasn't able to stop in time. It slammed into the out of control car and ignited the fuel tank causing it to explode and engulf both in flames. The car that had been on FAB1's right managed to avoid the blast but the car that had been behind wasn't so lucky as the wreckage of the two cars ended up right in its path. It slammed into them and also exploded. The other vehicles on both sides of the motorway all skidded to a stop in alarm.

"One of them's still onto h'us, m'lady," said Parker.

"There's too many innocent people here," said Penelope. "Get us off the motorway!"

Parker complied and raced as fast as FAB1 would go to the next junction where they turned off. They skidded round a roundabout with the car still following and headed for a nearby industrial estate.

Rosie glanced back anxiously and her heart skipped a beat. "Oh, God, there's a motorbike!" she said.

Penelope looked back too. Sure enough, a black motorbike had joined the chase and was now between them and the car. And it was then that Penelope noticed the design of the helmet the rider was wearing. There was no mistaking those two green eye holes. "Oh, how tiresome!" she said and opened up her compact radio. "Thunderbird 5, we have a problem."

"You don't say!" remarked Kerry. "My trackers show you're going completely the wrong way! The others are waiting for you!"

"We have company, Kerry," said Penelope. "The Hood's men are after us."

Rosie's skin went white. Kerry froze completely.

"Are you certain?!" Kerry asked.

"I'd recognise that biker's helmet anywhere!" said Penelope.

"This makes no sense!" said Kerry. "Why would The Hood send his men after you? He's too busy dealing with…" She broke off suddenly, a realisation striking her. "Oh, no!"

"What is it?" asked Penelope. "WHOA!"

FAB1 had taken a sharp right turn between some warehouses. The bike was able to make the the turn just about but the car ended up skidding round in circles and got left behind.

The henchman on the motorbike saw the car had got left behind and was frustrated. "They're trying to shake us off in an industrial estate," he said into a radio built inside his helmet. "It's like a maze round here. Requesting air support."

"You got it," answered the voice of Transom. "Three minutes out. Make sure you get to an area where there are no witnesses and disable that idiotic pink excuse of a car. The boss needs Dr Hall alive!"

"Understood," said the rider. "Relax, Transom. Nothing's going to stop us!"

Unbeknownst to the rider and Transom, their communication had been intercepted. Kerry gritted her teeth furiously. "You…have…got…to…be…KIDDING ME!" she thundered. "Penelope, you need to get rid of them!"

"Relax, Kerry," said Penelope, "this isn't the first time The Hood has sent his minions after me and…"

"They're not after you, Penelope!" Kerry shouted. "They want to kidnap Rosie - now GET HER OUT OF THERE!"

Penelope and Rosie were silent with shock. They looked at each other in disbelief.

"Parker…what she said," said Penelope.

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker.

They had just run out of industrial estate and were now out on a country road. The car had managed to find a shortcut to catch up with the bike and continue the pursuit.

"This spot is perfect," said the biker over his radio to the men in the car. "I'll disable the tyres - you run them off the road!" He tried to get closer but FAB1 managed to keep ahead.

They were now heading for a hill. They knew that on the opposite side was a medium-sized residential area.

"We can't risk the lives of the people in the next town, Parker," said Penelope. "Get us in the air and away from these idiots."

Parker was about to comply when FAB1's scanners suddenly started beeping. "Er…m'lady?"

"What now?" asked Penelope. She then noticed Rosie had gone even whiter and her eyes were staring in horror at something ahead of them. Penelope looked and saw it too - a big green Apache helicopter was rising up from beyond the hill facing directly towards them. "Damn it!" said Penelope. "On second thoughts, Parker, just get us through that town without causing any collateral damage!"

"H'I'll do me best, m'lady," said Parker. He gave FAB1 another boost and accelerated even more. The bike and the car tried desperately to catch up but they felt a little more relaxed now that they had air support.

The helicopter dropped low in height and began spraying FAB1 with machine-gun fire. This was no concern however as the car was bullet-proof and they harmlessly ricocheted off the bodywork and canopy. Rosie however squealed and covered her face in fear whilst Penelope and Parker remained completely calm. They raced under the helicopter which turned round on the spot and set off in pursuit with the bike and the car.

They were now in the residential area but luckily the road was quiet. However, the pavements and front gardens weren't and shocked residents gasped in disbelief as they saw FAB1 racing through being pursued by the three enemy vehicles. A door opened in the side of the helicopter and a henchman armed with a deadly-looking device prepared himself to drop out. At that same moment, Parker decided he'd had enough of being chased and activated the oil dispenser creating an oily slick on the road. This was meant to disable both road vehicles but the biker managed to jump up onto the pavement to avoid it. He also used this to his advantage to get ahead of FAB1. The Audi wasn't so fortunate. Its wheels skidded on the oil and it careered off the road before crashing through a brick wall and ending up in one of the front gardens. As the four men inside groaned in pain they found themselves surrounded by the angry residents who were ready to make them pay for their intrusion.

The bike had managed to get in front of FAB1 and the rider started weavering around from side to side forcing Parker to slow down. This allowed the helicopter to fly directly overhead and the henchman dropped down via a line, but without a safety-harness to land right on the roof of the vehicle. Rosie, Penelope and Parker watched in alarm as he started using the laser device to cut through the glass canopy. Penelope wasted no time in grabbing her handbag and pulling a small handgun out. Rosie watched wide-eyed as she selected her own laser setting. She pointed it up at the henchman and shone the tracer light right at his face. As she suspected, he had to throw his hands up to shield his eyes and in doing so, he dropped the cutter.

Parker accelerated again. The henchman had no means of keeping his footing on FAB1 and as a result was thrown backwards. He landed heavily on the road and his arm went CRACK! He screamed in agony but nobody seemed to hear him. The helicopter didn't come back for him as it continued to pursue FAB1. Parker also saw an opportunity to race around the motorbike and get ahead of it again.

Turning a corner, Parker noticed that there was a tunnel up ahead leading out of the residential area and back into the countryside. He charged towards it with both the helicopter and the motorbike both firing their machine-guns at them. As they reached the tunnel, the helicopter stopped firing and pulled up to fly over the top but the motorbike carried on in after FAB1. At the same time, Parker pressed another button which activated the smokescreen completely obscuring the biker's vision.

"Ugh! Bloody smoke!" the biker cursed. "I can't see!" The smoke cleared once he was out of the tunnel but before he could get a sight on FAB1, he found that he was on the wrong side of the road, and that there was a school bus heading straight for him. "AHHH!" he screamed and swerved to avoid a collision as the shocked bus driver slammed on his own brakes. The motorbike missed the bus by less than a metre but the rider lost control. He clipped the side of the road, the bike stopped dead but the back-end reared up throwing him up into the air to the horror of the watching children on the bus. The rider screamed as he flew through the air before landing face-first in a field about fifty yards from the road. For a moment, he lay still groaning in pain, but as he began to pick himself up, he suddenly realised that there was something standing in front of him. He looked up and found himself staring into the eyes of an angry bull. "Oh…" he exclaimed, realising what this meant. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!" he then screamed as he jumped to his feet and ran away with the bull in hot pursuit.

FAB1 continued along the road. They'd lose the bike and the car, but the helicopter was still there.

"Kerry, what's the status of the others?" asked Penelope.

"Katie's brought all the trapped miners up in the Mole-pod," Kerry replied. "But Daniel says that Wizzy and Laura are feeling very uncomfortable. Laura in particular - he says she has multiple fractures."

Upon hearing this, Rosie no longer felt afraid, but stronger and stern. "Then why the hell are we wasting our time running from these creeps?" she asked angrily. "They need us now!"

"I agree," said Penelope. "Parker, get us in the air. Then we can take this fight away from civilians."

"Right away, m'lady," said Parker. He flicked another switch and the wings of FAB1 came out. The front grill opened up becoming an air-intake and front wheels became jet engine thrusters which lifted the car up off the road. This came as a big surprise to the henchmen in the helicopter.

"This is Gamma 1, the target is airborne!" the pilot said into the radio. "You didn't tell us it could fly!"

"What?!" Transom shrieked. "You idiots were supposed to have stopped them already!"

FAB1 rocketed over the fields of Kent towards the English Channel which could be seen in the distance. The helicopter chased after them. The pilot tried to lock onto FAB1 so that he could fire missiles.

"H'oh no you don't!" said Parker when the scanners began to detect the missile trackers. He then began to pull a series of evasive maneuvers preventing the pilot from getting a lock. Penelope and Rosie had to hold on tight despite being strapped in by their seatbelts.

Soon they were flying over the sea near Folkestone. It was a hot summer's day and the beach was crowded. However, the sudden gunfire from the helicopter made everyone gasp in alarm. Parker knew he needed to end this. He pressed two more buttons. The first activated a chameleon circuit in FAB1 which made the car turn invisible. At the same time, the targeting computer locked onto the helicopter and fired two missiles out from two tubes located under the rear bumper.

The helicopter crew were so taken aback by the car's sudden disappearance from view that they didn't realise they had incoming until it was too late. The two missiles hit the underbelly of the helicopter causing it to explode in a fireball. The shocked holiday-makers watched as the remains of the helicopter fell into the sea.

"Bad business," Penelope said to Rosie. "But it had to be done."

"Agreed," said Rosie. "Now can we please hurry this up? I have patients who need me!"

Parker activated FAB1's afterburners and the flying car rocketed onwards towards France.


	4. Act III

Daniel, Wizzy and Laura looked up as the rumbling sound announced the return of the Mole-pod.

"Your turn, Wizzy," said Daniel.

"No, Dad, please," begged Wizzy. "Laura's in a much worse state than I am. She needs to go next."

"I can't," said Laura weakly. "Look at me, sis. I can't even sit up. You have to go next. I can't go anywhere until Rosie gets here."

"Funny you should mention Rosie," said Katie as she approached them after getting out from the Mole-pod. "Kerry contacted us whilst we were helping Diana. Seems that FAB1 just got chased by some of The Hood's goons. Some in cars, one on a motorbike and some in a helicopter gunship."

"Where are they now?" Daniel asked abruptly.

"Currently flying over Northern France in stealth-mode," Katie said. "They were able to get rid of their pursuers."

"Good," said Daniel. "No doubt they didn't just pull a disappearing act on them though. Let us hope she didn't receive any damage bills over the coming few days."

Laura watched as Daniel and Katie helped Wizzy up to her feet and walked her over to the Mole-pod. Daniel had managed to make a temporary sling for Wizzy's arm using a leather strap from his toolbelt, but she still made little moans of pain as she was helped into the rear passenger seat.

"Once you're topside, have the others give Wizzy the medical attention she needs," Daniel said to Katie. "Have Rosie give her a quick examination and then get her down here ASAP."

Katie nodded. Then she looked over at Laura who looked like she was dead because of the position she was stuck in. "Is she going to make it?" she asked quietly.

Daniel grabbed her arm and glared at her. "Of course she is," he said sternly.

Katie gulped, feeling stupid as Daniel let go. "Sorry, Dad," she said and climbed back into the Mole-pod.

Daniel stood back as the motors powered up and it disappeared back into the tunnel once more. He then walked back over to Laura and saw that her eyes were barely open. "Hey," he said bending down and stroking her forehead. "Wakey-wakey."

Laura let out a soft moan and looked up at her father. "Dad," she said. "Who's going to take over from me?"

"Nobody is," Daniel replied. "Now don't you start! You are going to live, Laura. Rosie isn't going to let us down."

Laura sighed. "That's…not what I meant," she said. "Dad, we both know that I'm not going to be able to fly Thunderbird 1 or even leave the island for months! You're going to need someone to take my place until I'm fully recovered."

Daniel didn't answer. He hadn't even thought about that. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," he said as he continued to stroke Laura's hair.

Beth, Adrienne and Leanna were waiting as the Mole-pod returned to the surface. It took all three of them as well as Katie to help Wizzy down from the vehicle.

"Get her into the shade under Thunderbird 2's nose," said Katie. "Let's try and keep the sun off her."

The others complied and sat Wizzy in a chair whilst Leanna and Adrienne helped put her left arm in a proper sling.

"You'll be okay, Wizzy," said Adrienne.

Just then they heard the sound of something approaching. They looked around but they could not see what was causing it. The miners were all looking around as well in just the same confusion.

But then the answer was revealed as FAB1's chameleon circuit deactivated just as the car came in to a land close to Thunderbird 1.

"Rosie! Thank God!" sighed Beth with relief as she and Katie hurried over to FAB1.

"Hey, guys," said Rosie giving the two girls a hug each. "How are they?"

"We've got Wizzy out," said Katie. "She's just over here by Thunderbird 2. Laura's still down there with Dad. She's in a very bad way. Can't even sit up."

Rosie hurried inside Thunderbird 2 and quickly changed into her uniform. A spare was always kept aboard for situations like this. She then grabbed her medical kit and hurried back out. "You okay, Wizzy?" she asked.

"I will be," replied Wizzy. "Don't worry about me. Help Laura."

"I will," Rosie promised. "Leanna, I need you to take me down. Katie, I need you to stand by with Thunderbird 2. If Laura's as bad as you say she is, we may need a Plan B to get her out."

"F-A-B," Katie and Leanna said.

Katie headed back inside Thunderbird 2 and up to the cockpit whilst Leanna and Rosie put on their helmets and climbed into the Mole-pod. Leanna started up the motors and headed back down the tunnel to where Daniel and Laura were waiting.

Penelope and Parker came to see how Wizzy was.

"Thanks for bringing Rosie here," said Beth. "I hope The Hood's men didn't give you much trouble."

"No more than usual," replied Penelope.

Just then, Kerry interrupted over Penelope's compact. "Guys, we might have something. I detected another transmission from The Hood and his forces. Seems they're hiding out in an abandoned farmhouse less than two miles away from your location. Might I suggest you pay them a visit, Penelope? Karolina's almost there as well."

"Consider it done!" said Penelope.

"Go get him!" said Adrienne,

So Penelope and Parker hurried back to FAB1 and quickly drove out from the mine complex.

The Hood stormed out of the farmhouse with Mullion, Transom and five other henchmen. Once again, he was furious that one of his plans had been foiled. "No way we can get our hands on Dr Hall now thanks to your incompetence!" he was saying. "Why do I even put up with you lot?"

"Boss, we did everything you asked us to," Transom protested. "Our plan should not have failed!"

"At yet, Transom, it DID!" The Hood thundered. "You all knew just how important this operation was and…WHAT?!"

Everyone looked round to see the unmistakable shape of Thunderbird 7 come swooping round from behind a nearby windmill. "Hello, Uncle!" Karolina's voice called over the tannoy speaker.

The Hood roared in a rage and ran for a nearby open-top car. Mullion and Transom joined him before they raced away. The five other henchmen tried to make it to another car but Thunderbird 7 caused them to scatter by firing a small missile onto the car and destroying it.

The car with The Hood, Transom and Mullion in raced out onto the country road and tried to make a run for it. It was a rather futile attempt as Thunderbird 7 soon came after them.

"Blast her out of the sky!" The Hood ordered.

Mullion grabbed an RPG launcher and prepared to fire at Thunderbird 7 when he saw FAB1 had appeared and was chasing after them as well. "Boss, which one should I take out?"

"BOTH OF THEM, YOU IDIOT!" The Hood bellowed angrily.

But before Mullion could chose which target to pick, both FAB1 and Thunderbird 7 launched missiles simultaneously. However, the missiles shot right over the car and slammed into the rocks above a tunnel leading into a nearby mountain. The rocks fell down and blocked the tunnel entrance. The Hood roared in a rage and grabbed the wheel from Transom forcing them to take a sharp turn to the left into a field - not that this would be a problem for their pursuers. FAB1 went into flight-mode yet again and followed close behind Thunderbird 7.

"What are they trying to achieve here?" asked Karolina. "There nowhere for them to go."

"They're desperate, Karolina," replied Penelope. "They'll do anything to escape."

The escape route was a bad one. Heavy rain over the past couple of days had made the field very muddy and it wasn't long before The Hood's car got bogged down and became stuck. They tried desperately to rev the engine and free themselves from the mud but it was useless as Thunderbird 7 and FAB1 came in to land on opposite sides.

"They've got us surrounded!" Transom cried.

"So?" growled The Hood. "We'll take them!" He jumped out and tried to run towards Karolina only to slip and land face-down in the mud.

Parker chortled but a sharp look from Penelope made him stop.

Transom and Mullion charged towards Penelope and Parker but also made the mistake of trying to run through mud. It slowed them down meaning that all Penelope had to do was spin and kick to knock Transom down whilst Parker was able to catch Mullion's punch and then punch him back and knocked him out as well.

Karolina looked down at her uncle with disgust in her eyes. "You never learn, do you?" she said.

Penelope came over. "You deliberately rigged that mine to explode endangering those poor workers and then have the audacity to try and kill our colleagues," she said. "And for what? All for a sickening diversion so that you could kidnap Dr Hall."

"You don't understand," The Hood said. "I must have her. I need that cure!"

"To sell on the black market?" asked Penelope. "I don't think so!"

"No. no!" The Hood cried, looking up at them. "I need the cure - for me!"

Karolina, Penelope and Parker looked at each other.

"But h'I didn't think that Dr 'all 'ad even perfected 'er cure yet?" said Parker.

"She hasn't," said Penelope. "So you gone and wasted your time and put several innocent lives in danger for something that isn't even perfected yet!"

"What?!" exclaimed The Hood. "No, this can't be! I have to have it! I HAVE TO-"

WHACK! Karolina kicked The Hood over the head and he lay unconscious in the mud yet again. The two women and Parker just looked at him with disgust.

Rosie gave Laura a thorough check-over using her high-tech gadgets. "Oh, dear," she said. "You are right, Mr Tracy. Laura does indeed have broken legs and a broken arm. I count five fractures in total. One in the arm and two in each leg."

"She will recover, right?" asked Leanna anxiously.

"Providing we treat her right, yes," said Rosie. "I have some special compounds, tools and methods that I created a while back with Jodie's help that will speed up the healing time. But I can't do that here. It has to be in my operating theatre back on the island."

"Understood," said Daniel. "But how do we get her out?"

"Plan B," said Rosie. She activated her watch. "Katie, fly Thunderbird 2 to right above our location. Then use the grapples to pull the roof off."

"Pull the roof off?" repeated Katie. "Won't that just bury you all?"

"Not if you do it right," said Rosie. "Beth, I need you to take control of Thunderbird 1 and drop a stretcher down to us once the roof is off."

"F-A-B, Rosie," said Beth.

So Thunderbird 2 took off minus the pod yet and again and Katie maneuvered it over the top of the mine. She then fired the cables down and grappled onto the rock. As carefully as she could, she then lifted the top of the mine away creating a big hole in the ground. Some rocks did fall but they weren't a danger to the others.

Beth got into Thunderbird 1 and once Jodie had changed the computer settings which were usually set for Laura, she headed over and hovered over the hole before lowering the stretcher down to them. Rosie and Daniel carefully placed Laura onto the stretcher and strapped her in.

"Leanna, take Rosie and the Mole-pod back to the surface," Daniel said. "I'll grapple up to Thunderbird 1."

Leanna and Rosie nodded and returned to the Mole-pod. Daniel waited until Laura was almost aboard Thunderbird 1 before using his grapple gun to winch himself up into the sleek, silver rocket. Once both were safely inside, Beth closed the hatches.

"That's everyone out," Daniel said. "We don't have time to waste. Girls, get the vehicles back aboard Thunderbird 2. Then follow us back to home. Rosie has a lot of work to do this evening and she's going to need all the help we can give her. Beth - take us home."

"Yes, Dad," said Beth. She turned Thunderbird 1 around and rocketed off into the distance.

Leanna and Rosie returned the Mole-pod to Thunderbird 2. Adrienne had already got the two bulldozer pods back inside and disassembled. Once she, Wizzy, Leanna and Rosie were back in the cockpit, Katie lifted the big green goliath off the ground and headed for home as well with Karolina and Thunderbird 7 following close behind. FAB1 also left, heading back to England. They had left The Hood, Transom and Mullion to be arrested by the authorities.

It was one of the quietest evenings that International Rescue had ever known. Rosie spent over two hours working on Laura with Jodie's help. It was gone midnight before she came out and revealed to everyone that Laura would make a full recovery.

"How long would you say?" Daniel asked.

"That I can't predict," Rosie said. "Two months. Maybe three. One things for sure - she is not leaving the island until she's one-hundred percent healed."

"Agreed," said Daniel. He turned to the others. "Beth, looks like you'll be taking charge of Thunderbird 1 for a while."

"Yes, Dad," said Beth. "I'll do my damn-best to make Laura proud."

"What about me?" Wizzy asked.

Rosie inspected Wizzy's arm. "You were lucky," she said. "I'll give you the same injection. You should be healed within two weeks I reckon."

Wizzy smiled weakly. "Thanks, Rosie."

"Go to bed, girls," Daniel said wearily. "You've all earned it. Wizzy, you come and have the injection. It's been a helluva day!"

The others couldn't have agreed more. They bid Daniel 'goodnight' and headed off to bed whilst Daniel went into the sickbay with Rosie and Wizzy.

As Rosie tended to Wizzy, Daniel went over to talk to Laura who was recovering from the anaesthetic that Rosie had given her. "How are you doing?" Daniel asked.

"A bit better than I was earlier," Laura replied. "Still don't feel complete though."

"It's going to take you some time to get over this," Daniel said. "But I know that you'll pull through."

Laura gave a small smile. Then she had a sudden thought. "Hey, I don't suppose you know if Diana made it, do you?" she asked.

"Ah, yes, I was about to come to that," said Daniel. "I got a call from the hospital they're at whilst Rosie was operating on you. She was very lucky. She will recover."

Laura screwed up her face and burst into tears. "Why did I do it?" she asked. "I had hold of her and…I let go!"

"Laura, there's nothing you could've done," Daniel said. "I'm amazed you were even able to catch her in the first place. Don't go beating yourself up over this. It isn't worth it. Let it go."

Laura dried her eyes on the tissue that Daniel handed to her. But despite Daniel's words, she was still very upset over this. "Let it go?" she asked. "She nearly died because of me! Impossible! How can I let it go?"

Rosie then gave Laura a small injection. "Shh, Laura. You've been through such a lot," she said. "You need to sleep."

Laura's eyes closed and she was soon asleep thanks to the sedative that Rosie had given her.

Wizzy came over and stood beside her father. "She's not going to get over this anytime soon, is she?" she asked.

"I don't think any of us will, Wizzy," said Daniel. "We were damn lucky! Let's hope that the French authorities were able to find The Hood and his goons at the location Penelope gave to them. Karolina's right - he needs to pay for what he did today!"

"He will get it," Rosie said. "But for now, you two need sleep as well."

Daniel and Wizzy nodded in agreement. So they left Rosie to look after Laura. This had been a traumatic day for the members of International Rescue, but as they had both said, it wasn't one that they were going to forget overnight.


End file.
